The first half was a forgettable one for the green and white. The teams went back and forth early in the game with Albright holding a four point lead followed by a Spartan spurt that gave them a four point lead at 10-6. The Lions then fashioned a 18-5 run that turned the Spartan lead into a 27-15 Albright advantage with 8:32 remaining in the half. The Spartans trimmed the lead to seven twice but the Lions went on a 15-6 run over a three minute stretch late in the half to extend the lead to 44-28 with one minute remaining before the half. The Spartans would score the four points in the last 50 seconds of the half to go to the locker room down 44-32. The Spartans shot a paltry 35.5% in the opening half while the Lions ripped cord to the tune of 64% including 55.6% from beyond the arc.
The Spartans came out of the half shooting the lights out as they began the half with an 18-6 run that tied the game at 50 with 14:53 left in regulation. The Lions responded by scoring the next four points but the Spartans hit the hosts with a 9-0 spurt that gave the Spartans the 59-54 lead with 9:45 left. The Spartans would not relinquish that lead the rest of the way.
The green and white maintained the lead between two and seven points before the Spartans scored five straight highlighted by a Kenny Fass (Dallastown, PA/Dallastown) three-point play to push the lead to 78-68 with 2:10 left. Albright quickly trimmed the lead to five thanks to a three and a layup but the Spartans didn’t let the lead get below five the remainder of the game as they settled for a seven point victory.
York shot 53.1% in the second half including 54.5% from beyond the arc. The Lions struggled from the field in the second half as they converted just 38.7% of their attempts from the field including just 2-for-15 from beyond the arc.
Junior guard Brandon Bushey (Littlestown, PA/Littlestown) earned the tournament MVP as he poured in a career-high tying 29 points while he also had seen points three assists, one steal and one blocked shots. Bushey was 9-for-15 from the floor including 5-of-8 from deep. He also made 6-of-7 from the free throw line. Bushey was joined on the all-tournament team by Fass and sophomore Brad Zerfing (York, PA/Central York). Fass had 19 points and seven rebounds while Zerfing added 13 points, six assists, four rebounds, and one steal. Senior Ben Seibert (Hanover, PA/Southwestern) was the fourth Spartan in double figures as he had 11 points and seven rebounds.
Trevor Deeter led the Lions with 24 points and eight rebounds. Deeter, a preseason All-American, was 10-for-13 from the floor and 4-for-5 from the free throw line. Elu Lawrence added 13 points and four assists while Garret Etzel had 10 points for Albright.
The Spartans finished the game shooting 44.4% from the floor and 55.6% (10-18) from beyond the arc. York also converted 65.5% (19-29) from the charity stripe. Albright made 50% of their shots from the floor but struggled from three as they made just 7-of-24 (29.2%) from three.
York returns to action on Tuesday evening when they travel to Gettysburg College for a non-conference contest with the Bullets. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN 1350 in York. Tip time is slated for 7:00 pm.